What can a landlord do with a tenant’s belongings left behind in Connecticut?
In Connecticut, a landlord who believes every occupant has abandoned the unit may mail a notice by regular and certified mail, retake the unit if nobody responds within ten days of receipt, and must inventory the belongings left behind and keep them for at least thirty days before disposing of them. The notice must say the landlord believes the unit is abandoned, intends to reenter unless the occupant makes contact within ten days of receipt, intends to remove the belongings and rerent, and will dispose of belongings not reclaimed within thirty days, and must give a telephone number and mailing address. The occupant may reclaim the belongings within the thirty-day period, after which the landlord may dispose of them as the landlord deems appropriate. After an eviction judgment, a state marshal removes the belongings to the town’s designated storage; if they are not reclaimed and the storage expense paid within fifteen days, the town’s chief executive officer sells them at public auction after posting notice for one week, gives the tenant the net proceeds after a reasonable storage charge, and turns them over to the town treasury if not demanded within thirty days. This is Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 47a-11b, 47a-42.
| What | Connecticut |
|---|---|
| Belongings left behind | Notify, then keep belongings 30 days |
| What the statute requires first | Notice, a waiting period or storage before disposal |
What the statute says
“The landlord shall inventory any possessions and personal effects of the occupant in the premises and shall remove and keep them for not less than thirty days.”
Quoted word for word from the section’s text.
Source
Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 47a-11b, 47a-42
Read the statute in the Connecticut General Statutes (Connecticut General Assembly): cga.ct.gov.
Checked against the statute on November 15, 2026.
This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.
How Seayora uses this rule
Seayora keeps a lease’s end date and every notice sent through it, with the date it went out, in the lease record — so the dates a rule like this one counts from are on file rather than remembered.
Guides on this rule
- Tenant Abandoned Property Laws by State — What a landlord must do with belongings a tenant leaves behind, with the notice and storage rule in each of the 43 jurisdictions that set one.
Compare this rule in every state
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